Hygienic toothpick dispenser



Jan. 20, 1948. R, LE NE 2,434,806

HYGIENIC TOOTHPICK DISPENSER Filed Feb. 12, 1947 [IL I? Invent or RAPHAEL LEPIRE s Attorney Patented Jan. 20, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in an hygienic toothpick dispenser and appertains particularly to a manually operated dispensing machine for presenting a single article at a time in convenient position to be Withdrawn.

An object of the invention is to provide a sanitary dispenser for toothpicks or the like that holds a supply of the articles, completefy enclosed and shielded from dust, germs, etc., and untouched by other persons may be passed out singly and as required in fresh, new condition.

A further object of the invention is to provide a dispenser for thin elongated articles that feeds one article at a time, ejecting it horizontally and delivering it endwise,

A further object of the invention is to provide a dispenser for elongated articles with a horizontal and endwise delivery, wherein the supply of articles stored in the dispenser is kept level, orderly and feeding to the ejectin mechanism by a novel vibrator mechanism associated with the ejector.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a dispenser for toothpicks, and like articles, that is characterized by structural simplicity, may usefully display advertising matter on its face and, being capable of manufacture at reasonable cost, is thereby rendered commercially desirable.

To the accomplishment of these and related objects as shall become apparent as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as shall be hereinafter more ful y described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

The invention will be best understood and can be more clearly described when reference is had to the drawings forming a part of this disclosure wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an hygienic toothpick dispenser embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical, transverse section therethrough, as taken on line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective elevation of the novel ejecting mechanism; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective elevation of the front of the hopper.

While I shall describe my instant invention as a toothpick dispenser, it must be understood that wherever reference is made to a toothpick or the term toothpick is employed it designates generally any thin elongated article such as a match, cigarette, sipping straw, pin or the like.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the casing, cabinet or jacket is in the form of a hollow rectangular box 5, almost square from the front and about twice as high as it is thick. The sides 6, bottom 1 and back 8 are opaque but the front 9 and top H] are of transparent plasticthis enables the display of covered advertising matter (not shown) behind the front 9 and top [0 and the inclusion of unobstructed areas of either to afford a view of the supply of toothpicks Within the container to ascertain when replenishment is needed. The top It] is removably bed by rotatably releasable fasteners l I that can be turned crosswise with respect to an accommodating narrow slot in the cover.

A hopper l2 occupies the upper half of the jacket 5, and the two companion sloping wings thereof, disposed one on either side of the vertical median of the box, extend from the front 9 to the back 8, except that a spacing or filler plate I3 is shown as applied to the upper, inside part of the back. Across the bottom of the hopper, there is a passageway 14 as the converging wings fail to meet, being bevelled to drop vertically in spaced relation. Under the front of the hopper l2 and. closing this passageway M for a short distance is a prop l5 whose upper end is tenoned to rise between the hopper wings and is cut with a V notch IS on its top surface.

The ejecting mechanism for dispensing one toothpick at a time from a supply thereof stacked in the hopper I2 and feedin by gravity to the passageway I4 at its bottom consists of a horizontal shaft I! rotatably journalled at opposite ends in the sides 6 of the jacket. A disk-like member I8, of a thickness to move nicely between the spaced bevelled bottoms of the hopper wings and of a diameter to rise approximately to the level of the props notched top I6 is mounted on the shaft I! and through its uppermost arc has a V-groove I9 cut in its periphery. To the rear, and somewhere between 45 and from the vertical, this groove l9 ends abruptly in a radial projection 23. Rubber has been found a very suitable material from which to construct this ejector disk. The rubber disk is applied laterally to the relatively heavy-solid shaker or vibrating block 2| that underlies one of the hopper wings; It rounds away at the back but serves as a stop to limit the rearward rotation of the disk l8 when the shoulder 22 on its forward side comes in contact with the underside of the hopper.

Secured to the block 2| and extending to the side is a spool-like spacer 23 on the outside of whose enlarged end is a plate 2Q with a perforated radial lug 25 through which the offset lower end 26 of the push rod 2'! extends. This rod rises through a guide eyelet 28 in the side wall 6 and passing through a slot in the top i terminates above the latter in a horizontal spiral configuration 29 that serves as a finger plate. The rod 21 and radial lug. 25 may be so arranged that the depressing of the rod 2'! can rotate the shaft l'l through anything up to about 165 but I prefer to relate the angular setting of this lug with respect to the stop 22 so that a rotation of the shaft ll through an angle. of only approximately 45 to 60 is permitted. A resetting retractile coil spring 30 is stretched between the forward upper side of the block 21 and the back of the casing 8 or rear spacer plate 13 near the top and just to the side of the hopper.

Rising from a level just below the bottom of the V-shaped-notch in the prop tenon i or substantially aligned with-the said notched tenon top and the grooved periphery of the ejector disk 18, is a perforation 3i in the casing front 9 through which the toothpicks, fresh, clean and untouched-by-human-hands, are fed out one at a time on operation of the manually operable rod 21.

So it will be seen that the pressing down of the rod 21 rotates the ejector disk 58, causing the stepped projection 26 thereof to ride over-the top and push outwards any thin elongated article that was nested in its groove iii and riding in the co-level match it of the prop [5. On release 'of the rod 21 it rises again under the influence of the spring 30 that snaps the whole ejector mechanism back to initial setting where it stops as the shoulder 22 of the block 2| strikes sharply against the bottom ofthe hopper l2, shaking the same by the impact. This shaking or vibrating bf the hopper l2 by the impact of the block 2! on every operation of the rod 21 is important in keeping the toothpicks in orderly arrangement in the hopper with the lowermost toothpick settling evenly in the notch in the top of the front prop and the groove in the disk and aligned with the outlet opening 3| in the front ofthe cabinet ready to be ejected by the radial projection 2i For'this purpose I prefer the hopper assembly in eluding the back spacer to which the hopper wings attach and the front prop to be loosely 'mounted with respect to the rest of the device.

From the foregoing description takenin con nection with the accompanying drawings, it will be manifest that an hygienic toothpick dispenser is provided that will fulfill all the necessary requirements of such a device but as many changes could be made in the above description and many apparently widely different embodiments of the invention may be constructed within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or scope thereof, it is intended that all matters contained in the said accompanying specification and drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitative or restrictive sense. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A dispenser comprising a casing having a removable top, a hopper in said casing formed of a. pair of sloping wings narrowly spaced at their lower ends, a prop under the forward side of said hopper having a spacing tenon rising between the wings thereof, a manually operated,

spring retracted ejector disk rising between the spaced lower ends of said hopper wings and substantially level with the tenon of said prop, a stop on the side of said disk in normal engagement with the underside of one of said hopper wings, and an opening in said casing substantially aligned with the top of said ejector disk and the tenon of said prop.

2. A dispenser comprising a casing having a removable top, a hopper in the upper part of said casing and replenishable through said' top formed of a pair of sloping wings narrowly spaced at their lower ends, a prop under the forward side of said hopper having a spacing tenon rising between the wings thereof, a manually operated, spring retracted ejector disk rising between the spaced lower ends of said hopper wings and substantially level with the tenon of said prop, substantially aligned V-shaped grooves in the top of said tenon and in the periphery of said disk respectively, a stop on the side of saiddisk in normal engagement with the: underside of one of said hopper wings, and an opening in said casing substantially aligned with the grooved; top of said ejector disk and the tenon of said; prop.

3. An hygienic dispenser for endwise: delivery of toothpicks and like thin elongated objects comprising a casing having, an. outlet perforation in the front thereof; a loosely mounted hopper assembly therein consisting of a pair of sloping hopper wings one on either side of the casings centre, f'gnning from front to back and con verging toward the bottom, a spacing plate across the back of said wings anda propunder the forward end of said wings; a rotatable ejecting disk in the bottom of said hopper and substantially level with the outlet perforation inthe front of said casing; a hopper assembly shaking stop affixed laterally to said ejecting disk; a retractile spring normally holding said stop in engagement with the bottom of said hopper; and manually operable, disk actuating means acting against said spring.

4. An endwise delivering dispenser for thin elongated articles comprising a casing having a .base, front and back and side walls and a removable top, saidfront having an outlet perforation about its centre; a hopper in the upper part of said casing, accessible through the open top thereof, consisting of a pair of sloping wings extending from front to back and converging toward their lower ends; a rotatable horizontal shaft in the lower part of said casing and'underlying said hopper with its ends journalled in opposite side walls of said casing, a lug extending radially from said shaft; a vertically slidable, manually operable rod pivoted to said lug and rising through the top of said casing; a stop on said shaft; a retractile spring associated with said shaft against which said rod acts; and an ejector on said shaft with its top reaching into the bottom of said hopper and Ievelwith the outlet perforation inv the. front of said casing.

RAPHAEL, LEPINE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED. STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,671,853 Carlstrom May 29, 1928 1,739,970 Kauffman- Dec. 1-7, 1929 

